"Coming to Terms with History" Sermon

Coming to Terms with History:

A Developmental Task of Intentional Interim Ministry

Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

“Every congregation has stories to tell, stories of success and failure, stories of joy and grief. One of the times when a congregation’s stories are most likely to be recalled is during the time of pastoral transition. As a congregation makes decisions for the future, members look to the past.” - Temporary Shepherds: A Congregational Handbook for Interim Ministry

FIRST CHURCH ANTIOCH: A CASE STUDY - Acts 15:1-36

15:1-2 Conflict over history – the “But we’ve always done it that way” dynamic.  

    15 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.

15:2 The connectional church in times of conflict: Asking for help from the larger church.

    So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

15:3-5 Conflict over history causes factions to form in the face of change – Jews and Gentiles. 

   ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

15:6-11 Conflict resolution: an appeal to a shared spiritual experience.

    ⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question. ⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹ He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? ¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

15:12-18 Conflict resolution – coming to terms with GOD’S history, which precedes ours.

    ¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs & wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ¹⁶ “‘After this I will return & rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, & I will restore it, ¹⁷  that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things,’ ¹⁸ things known from long ago.

15:19-21 Coming to terms with history through compromise.

    “What in our past do we need to keep – or let go of?” (Note that the original cause of the division – circumcision – is missing in the decision by the larger church leadership.)

    ¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. ²¹ For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

15:22-29 The critical component in change that addresses local church history: the Holy Spirit’s involvement in a process of thoughtful, prayerful deliberation resulting in change.

    ²² Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings: ²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. ²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

15:30-35 The result of the compromise over history: encouragement and peace .

    ³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ^{[34] [d] 35} But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

MONDAY MORNING

Q: If you were a member of First Church Antioch, where would you be in this story?

Q: Where can you see Patuxent Presbyterian Church in this story?

As you reflect on and answer these questions, remember to pray about your answers this week.